The Canary Islands recorded at the end of 2023 a total of 14.1 million foreign touristsa new tourist record and almost a million additional visitors before the pandemic, with an increase of 6.9%. However, this assessment does not extrapolate positively to the social majority, since the islands, according to the Survey on Living Conditions of the National Institute of Statistics (INE), are the second community with the AROPE risk rate of poverty or social exclusion.
While figures of increase in the number of foreign tourists and tourist turnover have been achieved, in the Canary Islands in 2023, 33.8% of the population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion, a rate that does not is surpassed only by Andalusia with 37.5%, which puts them away from the national average by almost 10 points.
The highest AROPE risk rates were recorded in 2023 in Ceuta (41.8%), Andalusia (37.5%), Melilla (36.7%), Canary Islands (33.8%) and in Extremadura (32.8%), in Castile-La Mancha (31.7%). ), Murcia (30.5%), Valencian Community (29.6%), Galicia (25.5%), Asturias (25%), Castile and León (22.4%), Cantabria (22%), La Rioja (21.8%), Catalonia (21.2%), Aragon (20.4%) and the Balearic Islands (20%).
In contrast, the Basque Country (15.5%) and the Foral Community of Navarre (17.2%) had the lowest rates of risk of poverty or social exclusion.
In Spain and by age group, the relative at-risk-of-poverty rate, that is to say the percentage of the population with low employment intensity and severe material and social deprivation, has improved, passing from 20.4 to 20.2% and from 8.7 to 8.4%, respectively, while the percentage has worsened of the population experiencing severe material and social deprivation (7.7 to 9%).
By population sectors, the survey carried out between February and May 2023 details that it increased by 2.1 points among those under 16 and 0.4 in the age group 16 to 64 years. Conversely, it fell by 0.4 points among those aged 65 and over.
Concerning the AROPE rate by level of training achieved, the survey reveals that the rate of risk of poverty or social exclusion for people with higher education was 13.3%; 25.7 among people with upper secondary education; 33.5% among people who have completed the first cycle of secondary education and 36.7% among people with primary education or a lower level of education.
Concerning the AROPE rate according to employment situation, among employees, it was 16.6%; among retirees, 17.2%; others inactive, 38% and among the unemployed, 56.7%.
Furthermore, the survey reveals that 37.1% of Spanish households I did not have the capacity to meet unexpected expenses last year, a percentage almost two points higher than in 2022 and the highest since 2016 (38.7%). Likewise, it was found that 9.3% of households reached the end of the month with “great difficulties” in 2023, a percentage six tenths higher than in 2022 and the highest since 2020, when it reached 10 %.
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